New York, September 25: China dampened expectations of further sanctions on Iran last night, telling other major powers that putting even more pressure on Tehran would not persuade it to halt its nuclear programme.
In contrast, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the UN Security Council the world should consider “far tougher sanctions” against Iran if it continues to seek a nuclear weapon.
Both countries had signed a letter earlier in which the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany told Iran to prepare a “serious response” by October 1 to demands that it halt its nuclear programme, or face the consequences.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the UN forum he favoured dialogue with Tehran, but time for talk was limited.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman signalled Beijing would be uneasy with a heavy-handed approach. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also repeated China’s stance that the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme was best resolved peacefully through dialogue.
But Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran claimed it had identified two previously unknown sites where it said Iran is working on developing high-explosive detonators for use in bombs.
–Agencies–